DIY meal planning board

Tired of the kids asking you “What’s for dinner?” as soon as they walk in the door? Our DIY meal planning board is the ideal solution! It’s inexpensive, can easily be customized and our free printable makes meal organization a breeze.

The first thing you’ll need is a 22″ x 28″ frame with a glass or acrylic insert. The insert can easily be written on, erased over and over and protects the background fabric or paper you’ve chosen for your board.

When choosing the background material, first check your supply of leftover fabric, burlap and wrapping paper. This is a great opportunity to customize your kitchen décor, so if you don’t have exactly what you want on hand, then head to the store.

Once you’ve made your selection, cut the material to fit the frame. Next, download and print our free Everyday Dishes & DIY weekly menu organizer printable on 11″ x 17″ paper.

If your printer doesn’t print large enough, take the file to a quick print center such as Kinkos and have them print it for a nominal fee. If you use a smaller frame, adjust your printer settings and print the printable at a smaller size.

Our printable includes the days of the week, a shopping list and “What’s for Dinner?” title but you might want to personalize your board with the family name, in which case scrapbook letters do a great job.

It’s easy to cut out our printable, position it on the background fabric or paper then glue or use double stick tape in keep it in place. Reassemble the frame and gather two upcycled empty tins—spice tins or soup cans are perfect.

Decorate the tins with scrapbook paper, print labels for them—we used Martha Stewart’s—then use epoxy to secure them to the front of the acrylic or glass.

Hang up the frame, fill tins with recipes, coupons, dry erase markers and an eraser. You’ll find yourself wondering how you ever got along without it!